


Choose What You're Gonna Keep

by romantic_nootella



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: I'm rewriting all of uncharted 4, Multi, Nathan decides to clue in Elena from the beginning, No Beta, She decides to go with them, We Die Like Men, Wish me luck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:01:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21675706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romantic_nootella/pseuds/romantic_nootella
Summary: Elena did not expect for her husband to return with a stranger (supposedly his dead brother who didn't actually die), and really didn't expect another adventure in her life. But she's definitely prepared to go out and play explorer again.
Relationships: Elena Fisher & Victor Sullivan, Nathan Drake & Samuel Drake, Nathan Drake & Victor Sullivan, Nathan Drake/Elena Fisher, Samuel Drake & Victor Sullivan
Comments: 13
Kudos: 41





	1. Waves of Fog

**Author's Note:**

> I wish Elena was there the whole time so this is wish fulfillment. Give tips if you want to, give me kudos if you like it, I love comments on my stories so that would be lovely. <3

It was sunrise, and Nate still wasn't home. She knew he was going to have a late night at Jameson's, but she didn't expect it to turn into an office slumber party, especially without Nate telling her. She twisted her ring, seeing her distorted reflection on the band. 

_buzz buzz buzz_

Elena searched for her phone as soon as she heard it vibrate, hoping it was Nate with a decent explanation as to why he didn't come home. 

"Fuck, where is it? I _know_ I had it on me!" Just then she remembered something, and sure enough her phone was tucked away in the back pocket of her jeans. Goddamnit. She swiped on the call, and placed it next to her ear.

"Hey, Nate. Where were you last night? I was worried." She heard a sigh on the other side of the phone.

"Hey, Elena. Sorry about last night, something came up. There's someone I want you to meet."

"Wow, I thought I already met everyone you knew," she joked, really hoping that it wasn't someone like Chloe. She had nothing against the woman, but her type were so excitable that whenever she came over there was three days worth of cleaning.

"Heh, not quite. We're gonna be grabbing coffee, do you want your usual?"

"Tell me, what is my usual? I'll be shocked if your goldfish memory can remember."

There was a feigned gasp of indignation on the other side of the phone. "Ms. Fisher, I assure you that I know exactly what your usual order is. And you'll know what it is when I get back."

Elena laughed, all of her worries from last night slowly dissipating. "All right, all right. I love you."

"Love you too, 'lena. See you soon."

She hung up, and flopped onto their couch, exhaling a breath she didn't know she was holding until that point. Sunlight shone in the house, and she looked at the dishes that need cleaning from last night. Yes, they might have played each other to see who would was them...but afterwards they got a little _distracted_ and the dishes were left untouched that night. 

The door opened, and she could hear Nate's voice mixing with another man's. His voice was unfamiliar and coarse, but based on the conversation the two seemed close. Elena stood up, slowly making her way to the door to greet her husband. 

"Hey, honey," she said, going on her tiptoes and kissing his cheek. She looked to his right and saw a tall man in a warm looking jacket, with long brown hair that was almost in a mullet. He had wild eyes that reminded her of Nate when she first met him, and a small smirk pulled on his face. She stuck out her hand.

"I'm Elena." He shook her hand, his fingers and palm calloused. 

"Sam. Pleasure to meet you."

She turned her attention back to Nate, who was holding two cups of coffee. "All right mister, let's see if you got it right." He gave her one of those dopey grins that made her heart flip, and he handed her one of the cups. 

"One grande light roast coffee with extra foam for the lady," he said, a glint in his eyes. Well, he sure was right about the order. 

She drank half the cup in one go, and gave him a thumbs up. "All right, so...who are you, Sam? What's your story?" 

The two men looked at each other, and Nate sheepishly said "It's a long story. It's probably for the best if you sit down, Elena."

Her eyes narrowed. Something was very off. 

\---

"I'm sorry, but WHAT?" Elena was so confused, a bit hurt, and emotionally all over the place. Why did Nate never tell her he had a brother? She thought that she knew the guy, her _husband_ of all people, but apparently she didn't. Sam's eyes were burning a hole into the carpet, and he clearly did not want to be here right now. Nate threw his hands up in defeat.

"Elena, I-"

She was flabbergasted, and needed some air. "I'll be back in a little bit."

She couldn't even feel herself walking, but before she knew it she had clambered up on the roof of their house. The fog was still in the harbor, rolling in thick waves. It reminded her of the first time she had met Nate, jumping into the waves off the coast of Panama. He had asked her to take a leap of faith then, and she had somehow trusted him enough to take that jump. She was so engrossed in memories that she didn't notice Nate walking behind her until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey, Elena?"

She turned around, and found herself looking at her husband, wringing his hands and averting his eyes from her steely gaze. She felt herself soften slightly. "Nate, why didn't you ever tell me about him?"

He sighed, and sat down clumsily next to her on the tiles of the roof. He stared at the fog, his brow knitted with concern. 

"Sam was my caretaker since I was five. Not legally, but he took better care of me than any nun in that orphanage. After my mother...passed, our father dropped us off at St. Francis's. I knew he didn't want us, but it still hurt too much. We were best friends, partners...and everything that we did was relatively legal until one night."

As Nate started to tell her the story of finding his mother's notebooks, Elena could no longer find a reason to be upset. Yes, he may have hid information from her, and yes, that did hurt, but she understood how he wanted to bottle up those emotions and forget about the pain that he had been dealt. He had already lost his mother and father, and if he thought that he had lost his brother too? No wonder he stayed silent about it. 

"I'm sorry," she said, hoping that he would understand what she was apologizing for. However, Nate was about as perceptive as a rock. 

"It happened years ago, you don't have to be sorry-"

"No, you numbskull, I'm sorry for reacting so badly. I should've listened to you earlier. It couldn't have been easy getting the bravery to tell me all of...well, this."

Nate turned his head and smiled. "What would I do without my favorite journalist?" he said, slinging an arm around her shoulders. 

"Oh, I don't know, you might've never made that airplane, you might've been killed in the jungle if I hadn't punched you, you might've died in the Himalay-". Her jabs were silenced with a soft kiss. She wasn't gonna complain about that.

"Yeah, yeah, keep on telling me how much I need you," Nate said, smirking slightly while leaning his head against hers.

Elena smiled. "Let's go meet your brother, I have a lot to catch up on."


	2. Citrus and Wine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam learns about the rising price of airplane tickets, and Elena prepares for the trip. However, something about Sam's story doesn't add up with her.

Sam was sleeping on their couch that night, Elena finally having a use for that spare blanket that had been attracting dust for years. They didn't often have guests over. He had insisted that he could find his own place, but luckily Elena was even more stubborn than he was, and Sam had ended the day with a full meal, a cup of hot cocoa and a comfortable place to sleep. 

Elena sat in the chair across from the couch, typing rapidly on her laptop. She was looking for plane tickets to Italy, seeing as they had a black market auction to attend to. She wasn't exactly sure how much she believed that Sam was in this to escape Alcazar, but she knew that if she brought concerns to Nate this early he would take offense.

"Jesus Christ," she said, scanning the prices for tickets. Many of them were over a thousand dollars each, and at this point she was grateful they were trying to find four hundred million. They would need it to make up for these prices. 

"What're you swearin' at?" 

Elena looked up from her laptop, seeing Sam sluggishly open his eyes. She turned her laptop towards him. "Nah, nah, that's way too bright sister. Can't read a thing. Just tell me."

"Plane tickets are a thousand each."

"WHAT IN THE GODDAMN HE-" 

"Sam, quiet! Nate's sleeping. He gets really cranky if he wakes up before eight." Elena said, casting a glance towards the stairs. 

"Yeah, I know that. He never shuts up and won't let you forget it. Sleeping Beauty."

Elena stifled a laugh. She could get along with Sam, given that he puts in his share of work into this adventure. She clicked the button that would purchase the tickets, and then shut her laptop. 

"I should get to sleep. Our flight's at eleven tomorrow, so we gotta be up bright and early tomorrow, okay?"

Sam smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Elena shuffled to their bedroom, and quietly curled up inside of their bed. Nate flopped over in his sleep, instinctively reaching out and pulling Elena into his chest. A warmth settled inside of her, and she drifted asleep in the embrace of her partner. 

\---

"Hey lovebirds, wake up. C'mon, I'm hungry." 

Elena's eyes fluttered open, seeing Sam sitting on their dresser, looking at their wedding pictures. "Sam?" she asked, blinking sleep blearily out of her eyes.

"Hey. It's, what, seven? I know you two haven't packed yet for this trip, so I decided to wake you up out of the goodness of my heart."

"How sweet. Unfortunately, Nate trapped me here." Sam glanced at them, and by god was Elena right. Nathan had quite literally trapped her with his arms.

"All right, Elena, I need you to duck." She rolled her eyes, but did as she was told and ducked her head down. Sam took what appeared to be a small pillow (god, did Nathan now own decorative pillows?) and aimed at his head. It hit its mark, and Nathan groaned as he woke up.

"Sam, what the fuck? I'm trying to sleep."

Sam laughed, and hopped off of their dresser. "Not when we're catching a flight in four hours. Get your shit packed, Nathan! Also, do you guys have any pancake mix?" Elena nodded, and slowly unfurled herself from Nathan's loosened grip. 

"Do we really have a flight in four hours?"

"Yep, so you might wanna get moving." Nate let out a quiet no, but slipped out of bed and grumbled the entire way to the shower. Elena laughed, and picked up the phonebook that Sam had left discarded. Flipping through the pages, she felt a faint tug on her heartstrings seeing Nate in that suit. He cleaned up so well. Elena had half expected him to show up to the wedding casually, gun holsters and all. Luckily there wasn't any need for guns, and their lives had stayed that way for a while. 

Elena closed the book and sighed, picking through her clothes drawers to find suitable clothes for adventuring. She wasn't an idiot, she knew that Nate missed the thrill of the chase. She did too. Looking up at the sky, she thanked any real gods that she was included in this adventure from the start.

*crash*

Her head whipped up, and Nate stumbled into the room in just a towel that was haphazardly wrapped around his waist.

"OW, FUCK!" 

Nathan Drake had stubbed his toe. And was making quite a fuss about it, too.

"Nate, calm down. You've been through worse before, remember when you got shot in the stomach?" Elena said, placing a pile of clothes into her suitcase. Nate frowned, and hobbled to the bed. Sighing dramatically, he dropped his towel-

"Wow, Nathan! You're not as flat as you used to be! When did my little brother get an ass? Awwwhh, did you do it to attract Elena? I bet she only married you for that cake-"

Nate threw the nearest object at Sam's head, but he caught it with ease. Inspecting the item, Sam's grin turned practically gleeful.

"Is this lube? Wow Nathan, you're a grown man now. Were y'all shacking up last night when I was here? Kinky bastards-"

This time it was Elena's turn to throw something at him. Luckily for Nathan, it wasn't something as embarrassing, instead being a plain softball from her Little League days. Sam looked at it, expecting something weird, but instead smiled looking at all the signatures from her old teammates. He left the room, tossing the baseball to himself and whistling.

Nate was still fully naked. "Nate, please put on some clothes," Elena whined, throwing underwear at him.

He grinned mischievously, moving his hips. "What, you don't like the show?" 

Elena was quick to leave the room, muttering to herself about the absolute stupidity of her husband. 

\---

She didn't know how, but Elena had managed to wrangle Sam and Nate (who acted like five year olds) in the airport, and somehow they managed to get through security without any alarms going off about an escaped criminal. They were currently in a shitty little cafe, eating sandwiches and drinking godawful lattes to try and get through the day. 

"Now, Sam, Sully should be able to help us get through without having to cause any trouble." Sam frowned. 

"Look, Nathan, I don't know if I can trust that guy. What if he gets cold feet?" Sam didn't meet Nate's eyes, instead favoring to burn a hole into his sandwich. The turkey could've whimpered with the look he was giving it. 

"Sam, he's saved my life multiple times, and put his on the line for me way too often. I trust him with anything. Besides, Elena agreed to enter with Sully as his 'date', so it'll only be us sneaking in." Nate explained, not noticing how put off from the idea Sam was. 

"Why can't he get us to enter with him too?"

Elena cut in at that point. "You're supposed to be in prison, and Nate is way too recognizable. It would be a dead giveaway if you two entered normally. Especially if there's anyone we know there."

"Elena's right, Sam. We just have to trust Sully to help us." 

Sam sighed and put his sandwich on the table. "Fine, let's go get us a Victor Sullivan."


	3. The Good Stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elena's a good actor, but so is Rafe Adler.

The plane had landed in Italy without a hitch, and the trio had gotten off the plane and went directly to the hotel that they had booked. As soon as they set down their suitcases, Nate's phone rang. "It's Sully."

He picked up the phone, and stepped outside on the balcony. Elena and Sam watched him, and they started unpacking. 

"Did we bring guns?" Sam asked, searching through the bags. 

"Uh, no, it would be way too difficult to get guns through security. There's way too many tests now for that to work out properly." Elena responded, pulling out ropes and supplies that they might need. Sam swore under his breath. Nate opened the door with his hip, still talking to Sully. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'll make sure that she gets the info. Thanks agin, Sully." He hung up, and immediately walked over to Elena.

"Hey, Sully's making sure that you have a formal dress for the occasion," Nate said, smiling down at her. Elena suddenly realized that she had neglected to consider the dress code of the auction, and she most certainly did not have a formal dress.

"Haha, nope. I really need one, huh?" Elena could see Sam putting his head in his hands in the distant corner. 

Nate grinned. "You're lucky that Sully picked one up for you on his way to Italy. He'll be here in what, an hour? Then we're gonna head over and split up." Elena sighed in relief, thanking her lucky stars that Sully knew her well enough to understand that she would bring water and hiking boots but not a dress or makeup. 

They continued to go over the plan in detail, marking where Sam and Nate would enter on a map of the building. If all went according to plan, they would sneak into a window in the back with Sully and Elena's help, move to the storage areas, grab St. Dismas's cross before it had the chance to get to the auction floor, and then sneak out again. And Elena could have a few glasses of a nice, expensive wine. 

There was a loud knock on the door, and Elena opened it. Sully strode in, and gave her a hug. "Hey, Elena. How're you doing? I know this one's probably had you all over the place," he said, jabbing his thumb in Nate's direction.

Elena talked over Nate's mildly offended response, "Hey, Sully. Doing good. Just going over the plan. You have a dress for me?" Sully chuckled.

"I sure do, sweetheart. As well as some makeup that was left in my plane from this one time-" Sam and Nate made retching noises in the background, clearly disgusted with that.

"Aren't we supposed to sit in that plane? Am I gonna have to sit where your nearest hookups bare ass was?" Sam asked in mild horror, clutching his hand to his heart. Sully rolled his eyes, and gave her a bag. Elena left the room, a heated argument about the cleanliness of Sully's plane occurring behind her. 

As she took the dress out of the bag, she looked it over. Sully was a genius with this, finding a dress that had pockets which were unseeable from the outside and a slit in the leg that would make it easier for her to move if necessary. It was long sleeved, and the deep red fabric was sure to help her blend in - it was such a popular color this year that everyone would be wearing it. She looked further in the bag, and she was nearly ready to propose to Sully. The man hadn't bought her heels, he had bought her a pair of flats. Thank god. 

She returned to the room to find all three of the men in suits, arguing over how they were getting there. 

"I'm telling you boys, we're taking my car and that's final. I'm not going to leave my fate in the hands of some taxi!" Sully argued, raising his voice. Nate nodded in agreement, understanding how important it was for Sully to take them.

"Victor, with all due respect, what if we can't get out? What if your car gets held up in traffic?" Sam said, playing with a knife delicately. 

"Then I'll apologize."

"Sully's right," Elena said, plopping herself in one of the chairs at the table. "He's the safest bet when it comes to a driver, not to mention the amount of speedy getaways we've had with him." Sam raised his hands up in defeat, and threw the knife down onto the table. 

\---

Elena was on her second glass of wine. She had grabbed an extra glass for Nate, knowing that he liked white wine a lot more than her. Sully was sipping on whiskey next to her, lounging on the sofa in the room, waiting for Sam and Nate to come through. 

"Did you know," Sully said, "That wine you're drinking? It isn't a fancy, expensive wine like you were probably expecting. It's just goddamn prosecco." Elena lowered her glass, glaring at the wine as if it had killed her husband. 

"You're not kidding, huh?" 

Sully shook his head gravely. "So sorry about that, I know you like a nice chardonnay." Elena laughed, but the click of the windowsill stopped her. In came Nate and Sam, and as he walked over to her she held out the wine glass.

"Aw, for me? How kind of you," he teased, taking a sip of it. "Wow, tastes like college parties." While he may not have been at college, he sure had gone to his fair share of parties and definitely had more than a fair share of drinks. Nate sipped it again, wincing slightly at the cheap alcohol, and then took notice of how Sully and Elena were looking at each other with slight unease.

"All right, what's going on? You two are really bad at keeping secrets."

Sully coughed. "Look, kid, they moved the cross. It's on the auction floor, so we can't sneak you up to the storage room. We're gonna have to go about it another way." 

Sam put his head in his hands. "Nathan, I told ya we should've done this ourselves. We would've been in and out of here by now." 

\---

Elena watched from near a pillar as Nate and Sam attempted to lift the key card off of the waiter, who had been stupid enough to look them in the eyes as he slid it into his back pocket. Ignorant guy had probably never gotten mugged before. Observing quietly, she saw Nate fail to grab it, looking disheartened as Sam lightly goaded him. Elena took another sip of her wine, and as she lowered the flute her husband came up to her, gave her a swift kiss on the cheek, and disappeared into the cellar with Sam.

She sighed. _Okay, where's Sully?_ Elena scanned the ballroom, and quickly found him talking to a tall black woman wearing a beautiful red shirt. Jesus, she was ripped. _Didn't know Sully was into girls who could break his back_ , she mused, until the woman turned around and Elena's grip on her wine flute instinctively tighter. 

Nadine Ross. Oh no, oh no no no. Elena had written an article on Shoreline when her father was still in charge, and she's certain that Nadine read it - it hadn't said the nicest things about the mercenary. Anxiously twisting the ring on her finger, she barely noticed as Sully pointed her out and waved her over with his typical smug smile. _Fuck_. He probably doesn't know.

Elena forced a smile and made her way over carefully, making sure to not bump into any bitchy elites. 

"Ah, there she is. Elena Fisher, meet Nadine Ross. Nadine and I go way back-"

"Yes, if you consider us going against each other _going way back_. But it is nice to see you again. Ms. Fisher, I do believe that you were the one to write that...article on Shoreline," Nadine said, smirking slightly at Elena. 

"Yeah, it was interesting to write. Sadly I haven't been able to write anything really thought provoking in a while, domestic life proves difficult for adventure," Elena responded smoothly, quickly taking another sip of wine. Nadine smiled. 

"So, Victor, what happened to your partner Drake?" 

Elena and Sully glanced a weary eye at each other. "He's out," Sully responded simply.

"Oh, you mean as in dead, out?" 

"No no no, he's settled down now. Starting a family," Sully said, twisting his sleevecuffs.

"Then he might as well be dead, right?" 

Elena's blood turned cold as she heard Rafe Adler's voice behind her. She wished that she could say he wouldn't recognize her, but she had made a _bit_ too much of a name for herself with her old show and all of her exposés. 

"Ah, Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan. Why'd you leave the husband at home, huh?" Rafe's grin turned mischievous. "Unless you two are having a little affair, you old dog."

Elena lowered her glass. "Oh no, he's at home with the kids right now." _FUCK. Where did that come from?_ She could hear Nate choke in surprise over the earbud, and she knew she was going to have to act well to pull this one off.

"Oh, you two have children together?" Nadine asked, genuine curiosity gleaming in her eyes. Damn, did that woman like gossip? 

Sully nodded. "Cutest little tykes you'd ever see. Of course, the older one's already climbing walls and jumping rooftops, just like her parents."

Rafe narrowed his eyes. "Then why haven't I heard anything about two well known people having children? That seems newsworthy."

 _Think fast, think fast!_ "We wanted our kids to grow up down to earth, we know that the spotlight is unhealthy for kids," she said, and then decided to add some fuel to the fire for fun. "Plus, we'd rather they learn to live their own lives outside of their parent's old lifestyles and careers."

Sam chuckled over the line. Sure enough, Nadine's smile turned flat and Rafe turned pink. 

Sully cut in, desperate to change the subject. "I'd be careful if I were you, Rafe. Someone's changed the line up. People might be up to something." Rafe nodded in response. 

A few more lightly charged remarks that Elena neglected to listen to in favor of tuning in to Sam cursing under his breath as people took food off of his platter, and suddenly Rafe was very much in Sully's face.

"Cut the bullshit, old man. If I-" 

" _Rafe._ " 

With a cutting look from Nadine, Rafe backed down, and lightly pretended to dust something off of Sully's coat. Elena held her breath until she watched him walk off, and suddenly the silence from Nate's end turned into static and then his voice. 

"Hey guys, I'm at the cell phone tower. You guys ready?" 

Elena glanced at Sully, and he nodded grimly. 

"All set, Nate. Hurry up though, they're starting to auction your favorite saint. We're gonna have to make a run for it. Sully and I can come round in the car and pick you two up after all of this is done."

_Fuck Rafe Adler._


	4. Hot Cocoa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elena's really just a babysitter at this point.

Elena grabbed onto Nate's shoulder in a desperate attempt to keep him in the car, Sam slamming the door shut behind him. Sully peeled out of the courtyard, bullets peppering his new car as they barely escaped. She gave Nate a quick look, assessing his injuries, and breathed a sigh of relief. How was he so lucky?

He weakly smiled. "Hey, 'lena, I'm okay. Don't worry about me." And then he promptly fell asleep, curled up in the backseat of the car. Sam was nursing some minor wound, probably from the window that Nate had shattered. 

"Hey, you want something to clean that?" Elena called to the back, pulling out the first aid kit she kept in the car. Sam made eye contact with her in the mirror and nodded, and promptly Elena tossed back the antiseptic wash and the bandages. She couldn't handle dealing with one of the boys if they got an infection, they were bad enough with their injuries as is. They wound their way through the Italian countryside, Sully's firm grip on the wheel slowly softening, bringing color back into his knuckles.

\---

They were all circled around the table, Sully and Sam drinking whiskey and Nate and Elena drinking some hot cocoa. It was a tradition of theirs, and it didn't seem fit to stop it now. 

"Hope I don't go to hell for this," Sam said, chuckling as he broke open St. Dismas's cross. He peered inside. "It's empty."

There was an immediate uproar until he started laughing and shook a rolled up paper out of the cross. 

"Not. Funny," Elena said, punching Sam in the shoulder. They all surrounded the paper, which featured a Scottish style cross and some numbers. Nate studied the paper, his brow furrowed as he looked through his notebook.

"Well, that cross is in the style found in Scottish graveyards. Which would mean we're going back to St. Dismas's Cathedral!" Nate said, his confusion slipping from his face, leaving him at ease. 

"Wait, wait, wait, Scotland? Didn't you and Rafe turn the whole place over?' Sully questioned, taking another drag from his cigar. Nate laughed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, the cathedral. But we didn't touch the graveyard at the old monastery on the other side."

Sully shook his head. "This whole thing smells like wild goose, kid." Elena looked up at him, and she could finally see that someone else saw that Sam's story didn't add up that well. He wasn't prepared to waste a part of his life on something that wouldn't bring any profit, but she knew that if she and Sully dipped out now, then Nate would continue. She couldn't risk it. 

"Sully, we should at least go check it out." Elena said, and Sully sighed. 

"All right, but what are these numbers? Some kind of combination, or code?" 

Nate looked closer. "No, these are dates! Look, 1659, the year he was born. And 1699-" 

"Let me guess, the year he died," Sully said humorlessly, taking another sip of whiskey. Sam looked down at his hands. 

They all agreed to leave for Scotland in the morning, and Nate and Elena took the pull out couch in the hotel room. His arms were wrapped around her, his hand stroking her hair and the back of her neck. 

"Hey, are you happy?" he asked, gently rubbing his thumb on her jaw. Elena smiled and pressed her cheek further into his palm. 

"As long as I'm with you, I'm happy." 

\---

"It's a good thing I brought my old coat from Shambala. It's freezing out here! Didn't Sully say that the weather was 'particularly fine in Scotland this time of the year'?", Elena said, desperately rubbing her hand warmers she had bought in a Scottish supermarket. Nate laughed loudly, swooping something shiny out of the snow and putting it into his pocket. 

"You know he just says that to sound cool, calm and collected." Sam said, breathing into his hands. Elena tossed him a hand warmer, and then their radios crackled. 

"Hey Sully, you sure you don't want to come with us?" Nate asked, looking towards the biplane resting in the ocean. Elena heard Sully's gentle chuckle coming through the radio. 

"I'm sure, kid. I'm not as young as I used to be." 

"All right, we'll keep you posted." And with that, the trio were on their merry way through tall yellow grasses and piles of hard, crunchy white snow. The sun had just risen an hour ago, and the sun rays glanced off the snow brilliantly, providing minor warmth. 

"So, Sam, are you gonna come over for Christmas this year?" Elena asked cheerfully, lightly elbowing him. He choked a little bit, and turned to her.

"You mean that?" he asked, hopefulness transparent in his eyes and face. Elena laughed.

"Yeah, of course! We'll invite Sully too, it'll be a family event." Sam smiled, and gave her a bone crushing hug. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that." 

Elena looked over Sam's shoulder to see Nate watching the two of them and smiling. She smiled back, and let go of Sam, walking over the snow and to the edge of a small cliff. Her face dropped.

"Shoreline's here."

\---

They had just finished taking out the third wave of Shoreline guys when they finally reached the cemetery. There was a decisive hush that fell over the three of them as they looked over the graves, knowing that the entrance had to be somewhere here. Nate squatted and pulled out his journal, and pulled out the parchment from St. Dismas's cross. 

"Okay, so we're looking for a cross like this with two swords and these dates. It's gotta be around here somewhere," Nate said, showing both Sam and Elena the sketch. 

They all split up, Elena walking over to the edge of the cliff while Nate sketched two skeletons laying next to each other and Sam looked in the right side of the graveyard. She scanned some of the crosses, looking at some further to realize that the dates were wrong, or there weren't any swords. Then she saw a cross with two swords intersecting, the dates 1659-1699, and the name Benjamin Bridgman on it. 

"Hey, Nate? I think I found something." 

Nate walked over quickly, and his eyes danced with excitement. "Elena...I think this is it! Benjamin Bridgman-"

"Was his alias," Sam put in, his lips quirking into a smile as he reached over to brush snow off of the tombstone. "The only thing that looks slightly off is this skull, Avery's sigil had the skull..."

Nate and Sam looked at each other. "Sideways!" the two said in unison, and Nate immediately pushed the skull to the right. A deep rumbling filled their ears as the ground behind the tombstone opened up into stairs that led underground. Nate dropped down, and plunged into the darkness, along with Sam. Elena took a deep breath before following them inside.


	5. Puzzlement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so late! But here's the next installment :) Elena is 2000% done with this man's injuries.

Elena walked through the foggy crypt, eyeing the skeletons lying in their graves warily. She’d had too much experience with things coming back to life when they shouldn’t have. Ahead of her, Nate’s flashlight sharply turned as he went through a doorway.

“Hey, I think I found something,” he said, his voice echoing throughout the chambers. Elena walked quickly over, being careful to avoid stepping on any misplaced bones, and as she reached Nate the chamber quickly opened up to show...something really weird.

In front of them was a wall that Sam had walked to, now inspecting the wooden wheels attached to it. Nate and Elena slowly walked behind the wall, and found themselves at a door seemingly without a door handle. There were these blue circles on different spots of the door, and Elena caught herself praying that it wasn’t anymore of that damn resin from Shambala. 

Nate pushed against a star that was different from the other ones on the door, but to no avail. It wouldn’t budge.

“Hey, brother, take a look at this,” came Sam’s voice from behind them. Elena turned around, seeing Sam looking at what appeared to be bowls with oil in them. 

“These were used for candles for a long time,” Elena said, dipping a finger into the oil. It was most likely animal based, as that’s what was available, and was likely still flammable. She looked at Nate, who seemed to be thinking the same as her.

“Sam, pass me your lighter.”

Sam tossed it over to Nate, who quickly caught it and lit one of the bowls. The arcs the other two bowls quickly caught aflame too, and as Elena looked back at the door lights around the same size as the blue circles appeared. 

Nate’s eyes lit up as he practically skipped to the other side to play with the wheels and see what happened. Sam caught Elena’s eye.

“Is he always that happy to try and solve a puzzle?” 

Elena laughed. “Yeah, he’s just a big kid at this point.” Sam chuckled, and walked with her to see what Nate was attempting to do. 

He was deep in concentration, spinning one of the wheels and putting his eye against one of the eyepieces. “I think I have to line up those lights with the blue circles on the wall, and then maybe it’ll open that door. Sam, go and check to see if anything’s happening. Elena, can you work on one of the other wheels?”

Elena walked over and grabbed one of the slowly decaying wheels, silently praying that it wouldn’t crumble under her hands. She put her eye up to the eyepiece and twisted the wheel until the two lights she controlled lined up with a pair of blue circles. 

“Hey Nate, I think we got it!” Sam called from the other side. Elena twitched in annoyance. Only Nate? 

Pushing that to the back of her mind, Elena quickly walked over and saw that a new door handle had appeared. Nate pushed against it, and the two doors opened, showing-

“Nothing. Where’s the treasure?” grumbled Sam, walking over to the beautiful window and irritably staring at the snowy landscape. 

Elena pressed a hand against the window, staring at the ragged coastline. There were a few crosses scattered around the hills, one of them leading to a cave. Elena immediately grabbed Nate’s arm.

“Nate. Look at the crosses.” She saw his brow furrow, and as the realization hit him he grew almost giddy with excitement. 

\-- --

They were in another shootout. Of course they hadn’t listened to her when she suggested that they sneak by Shoreline, a plan she had called “Ghost in the cemetery”, and had proceeded to go guns blazing. Idiots.

Elena peeked out from her cover and shot one of the men clean in the head. He fell, and his grenade detonated, blowing up the two guys next to him. 

She saw Nate get lightly grazed by a bullet, his luck running out. He quickly returned fire, knocking the last guy out of the equation. 

“Crap!” Nate said, clutching his wound. Elena walked over and grabbed the disinfectant she kept on hand, knowing that Nate got injured way too often and Sam would probably be the same. 

“Nate, you have to be more careful. If you were crouching any differently, that could have been a fatal shot,” she said, rubbing the graze and then wrapping it in a bandage. He nodded, but didn’t meet her eyes.

Sam offered him a hand up, and Elena took his other hand, all of them setting off in the direction of the crosses.


	6. Those Who Prove False

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elena's fingers are freezing, and Sam is very tired of being a third wheel.

Elena's hands were freezing. The mixture of snow, ice covered ledges, and a harsh wind had made them similar to icicles, and pulling herself up on ledges was proving to be more and more difficult by the minute. For some reason, Nate seemed only more energized and was prepared to do anything, a brightness in his eyes that Elena rarely saw anymore. She had missed this side of her husband. 

Just then, Nate looked over at her and frowned. "Elena, are you okay? You look miserable," he said, slowing his pace. Elena let out a laugh, and nodded. 

"My hands are just cold, that's all. They're seizing up a bit, climbing might get hard on me from here on out." Nate's frown dissolved, and he seemed to be thinking until he grabbed her hand and held it, the warmth of his body quickly making hers reawaken. Elena could see Sam roll his eyes from the other side of Nate, but she didn't care. 

The group continued walking, the snow crunching gently under their boots, and their goal seemed more feasible. Nate really was what kept Elena going along, his warmth and brightness helped her see possibilities and opportunities that she would usually ignore. 

Oh. Great. Another cliff with a well placed beam high above for them to swing onto, and a rock slide that had no indication of where they would end up. Elena hated that he had to pull his hand away from hers, and she watched him grapple the hook and swing, landing on the rock wall. He somehow trusted his body enough to drop down onto the wooden pole beneath him, and then - wait, did he seriously go on the rock slide? She assumed that he found a safe place to land, seeing as she didn't hear a scream of pain. 

"Ah Jesus, he always chooses the hard path, doesn't he?" Sam asked, eyeing Elena. She nodded. 

"It's his natural born talent." And as soon as the words left her mouth, she threw the grappling hook and swung, using as much of her upper body as possible to not dislocate her shoulder. She barely managed to grab onto the rock face, and Elena steadied her breathing before letting go and falling to the wooden rail below. She'd have to go back to physical therapy after this whole thing finished. 

Her stomach dropped faster than she did as she fell to the rock slide, and Elena steered, noticing the bare beam above her. She grappled it, and swung to the opposite side of the cliff. She'd breathe as soon as she touched solid ground again. 

Nate caught her as she dropped, and took her hand in his again. Sam landed next to them instantly, and smirked at his little brother.

"You gonna catch me like that next time, Prince Charming?" he teased, causing Nate to lightly slap him on the arm. The sound of gunshots quickly dampened the mood, and the group fell into silence, being wary of their next moves. 

If only they had some silenced pistols, this would be a much cleaner job to do. 

Nate stealthily took out one of the mercenaries in the high grass, grabbing the raffica pistol off his body. There were about fourteen guys around, and Elena would've thought that they were goners if the army's aim wasn't truly awful. This was very likely to become a shootout, and Elena was already counting her bullets. Not many. She'd have to make every bullet count. 

Sam pointed silently a bit further on the cliff, and Elena noticed the barrels that were likely explosive. A well aimed shot could kill or injure at least three of these guys, but it would give them away. They probably shouldn't-

BANG

"Who's there? Show yourself!". Nate was trigger happy today and had immediately shot the barrels, meaning that they were going to be in a really rough shootout. Elena ducked behind cover, blind firing wildly. She peeked a glance over, and attempted a headshot. She was close, but Nate sent home a shot that put the Shoreline merc to rest. 

Elena tried to stop her shaking hands. She had been in worse situations, like the truly unfair fights when they searched for El Dorado. Those guys must have been hopped up on drugs because it took a crazy amount of bullets to take them down. 

Eventually the fighting subsided, and they were able to walk into the tunnels behind the small army. Nate's walkie-talkie suddenly started crackling, and Sully's voice came into sound.

"You guys all right?"

"Yeah, we're just gonna lose signal for a little bit. We're heading into the cave," Nate said, walking briskly. 

"Cave?" Sully asked, a tinge of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, but we'll be back in no time. Keep the porch light on for us, Sully."

Elena heard Sully laugh. She owed that man so much for what he had done for Nate and Elena's relationship. Nate must've noticed what she was thinking about, because before she knew it her hand was back in his. 

"Can't let your joints freeze up, right?" he asked in a teasing voice. Elena laughed, and consigned herself to having to walk through a cold and probably very dangerous cave. It was icy cold, but it lit up in a blue light that was absolutely gorgeous. They continued walking, Sam and Nate laughing out of awe and surprise until they hit a chamber. There were beautiful, yet oddly eerie statues in the center, with a gibbet hanging above it and a sign above.

"To those who prove worthy, paradise awaits. To those who prove false, behold your grim fate," Nate read out, sketching it in his journal. Sam chuckled.

"Seems like Avery was a better pirate than a poet." Elena frowned, looking at the sign closer. That sigil... it didn't look like Avery's. 

"Hey, Nate? Take a look at that sigil," she said, lightly tugging his hand. He looked up, and as his eyes widened Elena knew that she had hit on something important. 

"That's because it's not Avery's sigil, it's Thomas Tew's," he said, writing even more in his journal. Sam scoffed. 

"Why would Thomas Tew be involved in this if its just a dumping ground for Avery's treasure? Didn't Thomas Tew die, anyways?" Sam said, nervously drumming his fingers against the wall. Nate shook his head.

"It was said that he died in the same battle as Avery, but if Avery didn't die there, then maybe the same can be said for our friend Tew. They were both powerful pirates, what if they pooled their wealth together?" Nate said, a certain fire in his eyes that Elena recognized from the years they had spent together. 

"Huh." 

The group walked over to the closed door, and Nate pushed his hand into the wall and grabbed whatever was on the other side, making a face as he touched something with a squelch. 

Elena hesitated, saying "Wait. What if something happens to you?" 

Sam looked at her. "Like what?"

"I don't know, I lose my hand?" Nate said, mild annoyance in his voice. 

"Then we'll get you a nice hook," Sam promised, and Elena wasn't too sure if she wanted a relationship where Nate's dominant hand was a hook. That sounded like a trip to the emergency room. 

Nate closed his eyes and pulled, and breathed a huge sigh of relief as the stone door rolled away and his hand remained on his arm. They stepped into the next chamber carefully, and it was huge, the natural cave structure having high ceilings and deep cliffs. It was beautiful. This also seemed a lot less suss than anything else they had seen before, nothing too religious or creepy. It seemed much more human in a way. 

As they walked and jumped through the cavern, Nate suddenly slipped off of an edge. 

"Nate?" Elena called, peering over. He was chilling against the wall, and he climbed back up quickly with a childlike grin.

"Elena, look what I found!" he said, opening his palm. In it was a little pewter box, slightly grimy, but Elena knew that with a good polish it would gleam brightly. 

"We can out our rings in it when we go swimming," she joked, and she could practically feel Sam roll his eyes. Nate's rich laughter drowned out whatever insecurities she may have had over how his brother felt about her, and he walked a bit further, reaching a new chamber with another door. He pulled out a skeleton's arm, and as soon as he did, the spikes that trapped him shot back into the ceiling and ground. Obviously there was a mechanism that they had to complete, but which one? 

Just then Elena heard a loud clunk behind her, and the group spun around to see a bucket move to the bottom of the wall. Nate grabbed it, and looked at them in confusion. 

"Maybe we have to fill it?" she found herself saying, and she gestured to the small pool of icy water below them. Nate sighed, and dropped down, walking up to his knees in the icy water. She could hear him whine about the temperature, but he filled the bucket and passed it up to Sam, who put it inside of the small niche. As soon as he did, wheels appeared that Elena guessed were to move certain parts of the mechanism. 

Nate opened his journal, and lined it up with the wall. "Huh," he said. "It looks like this could line up with our boys. Dismas, Jesus, and Gestas."

Sam nodded, looking closer at the crosses. "The white cross has got to be Dismas, him being the good thief and all. Jesus is probably the big cross, and Gestas, the jerk thief, is the black cross."

Elena walked up to the wall. "Look," she said. "There's certain places here with the light on them. These three spots, and the one up there." 

Nate started to spin one of the wheels, and the bucket went up to the top. A wooden shutter fell over it, leading them to guess that it meant that it was in the right place. 

"Huh."

Nate continued to spin the several wheels, until the crosses seemed to line up in the right order. Sam laughed.

"Nathan, I think you've got it!" he said, and Nate smiled before putting his hand into the hole. He took a deep breath, and as he pulled the wire he exhaled. The door rolled away, and he was still alive after. 

They continued the scramble over icy rocks, and at one point Nate had to swing through a tiny crevice in order to push a box. Why the hell was a box with wheels up there? Oddly convenient. 

"Do you have a trampoline?" Sam asked Nate, after Nate made a quip regarding not being able to reach a certain ledge. Nate laughed, and shook his head. Sam tutted and looked at Elena.

"Get a trampoline and maybe I'll come to visit," he said, offering her a half smile. Elena laughed. 

"As soon as we can get a place with a backyard, sure. Right now? We're in an apartment. Get back to you on that one." And with that, they crawled up to the ledge, walking down the hallway and down a set of stairs. A few more ledge jumps and a trip through some tombs found the three of them pressed against a wall with a crack in the middle of it, and as soon as Elena looked inside she stopped the boys and immediately put her finger to her lips.

Nadine was inside with what must have been her first in command, poring over maps and plans. In another life, Elena thinks that she could be friends with Nadine. But Nadine had beat the shit out of her husband, and Elena wasn't super down for that. 

"All right. See what else you can find," Nadine said, and then Rafe walked inside, an aura of frustration surrounding him. Nadine perched herself on the table, looking pleased with herself.

"Did you hear? They found a whole annexed area under the cathedral," Nadine said. Rafe gave a shallow laugh.

"That is, what's left of it."

"My men have been a little liberal with the dynamite," Nadine conceded. "But we've been making more progress now than we have in months."

"I can't analyze rubble, Nadine," Rafe said, his head down. "Especially now that we have competition." It escalated into a loud argument, most likely about Nate, and Elena found her stomach lurching when she heard her name. 

"And he brought his wife with him, but I don't think she'll be too much of an issue. How much harm can a journalist do?" Rafe laughed. Nadine cocked her head, her eyebrows raised.

"She has the stance of a fighter. Underestimating her could be a mistake," Nadine said, picking at her fingernails. Was Nadine defending her? "Next time, I'll give you the heads up before my men do anything drastic."

Nadine walked past Rafe, touching his arm as she moved slowly. "It's nothing personal, just business," she said, smiling softly at him. As soon as she walked out of the door Rafe slammed his fists onto the table, and the three treasure hunters looked at each other in surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the late update guys, life has been crazy recently but I'm going to try and be more on the dot with my writing schedule. I have some stuff planned out to make it fit the plot, but certain areas are going to be changed so that it can fit my narrative. Nothing too crazy, I promise. Please leave comments below on parts you like, and parts you think need work. Also feel free to give any advice! I love reading comments from you guys :)


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